Chapter 17 - Elysium

Sora's eyes opened slowly. Asher looked down at him, smiling at the Keybearer with that smile, Asher's strange smile that Sora was beginning to understand. The smile told him that Sora was important to Asher, that even if the black-haired boy could find the words to embody how he felt about Sora, the smile took much less time and told much more.

"Good to see you're awake. I don't know how you did it, but you wrecked the entire Fortress. The place is hollowed out," announced Asher after a quiet moment between the two of them. Sora nodded, then grimaced. His neck- no, his entire body- was hurting.

For a moment, Sora could not say anything. It was not from the pain, but from knowing that he had not made a mistake in becoming Asher's friend.

"Is everybody okay?" asked the brown-haired young man after a short period of silence.

"Everybody's fine. Or, will be, after a little while. Dyne was in really, really bad shape. Lilka, too. Riku was practically unharmed, though. And you... your entire body was sunburned," grinned the bearer of the Heart Key. "You're as red as a beet all over."

Sora frowned, unsure of why he would look so bad or be so sunburned. And then it all came flooding back. Sora's eyes grew wide, his mouth drooped open, and he began to stammer. Asher shook his head.

"Look, just rest. Riku is with Dyne and Lilka. He'll be glad to know you're conscious again."

Sora's mouth closed, and Asher got to his feet. He was still wearing the black Unknown's cloak, but the locked-heart pendant hung out of the folds at the neck and dangled just over his chest. He turned to leave.

"Asher, wait," called Sora. Asher turned.

"Where are we?"

"Elysium. We're in the last bastion of sanity we'll find before we reach the Door," replied the cloaked young man before he turned and left. Sora fell asleep again.

Over a relatively short period of time, with the help of strong curative magics and medicines, everybody was on their feet again. Riku and Asher had both played an integral role in getting Lilka, Sora, and Dyne back to functional level. It took time for Sora's burns to heal, for Dyne's wounds to seal up and go away, and for the drained and battered Lilka to even stand again.

Both Lilka and Dyne had to be told where they were and how long they had been in their comatose states. Sora had been the first to awake and move around, Dyne next, Lilka last of all.

Asher was least concerned with Dyne, familiar with his stubbornness and recuperative ability. Sora was able to get around while the dual wielder was unconscious, and kept vigil over him while he himself healed.

Riku rarely left the side of Lilka's bed. The owner of the house in which they stayed could not get over how strange it looked for a blindfolded man to be keeping watch over a hopelessly injured girl. Still, the healing spells worked wonders, and in time, Lilka was able to get to her feet.

Dyne would forever carry the mark of his own (seemingly) wasted self-sacrifice, a large scar on his chest running from the bottom of his sternum to the top of it. When he was able to move, however, move he did. He had a tailor fix his Unknown's raincoat.

While both Sora and Dyne had healed fully, Lilka was still comatose. Somebody was with her, constantly, and it was usually Riku. During this time, only Asher would leave the house that had taken them in. Nobody cared. The girl was their primary concern, and Sora most of all kicked himself for not being able to protect her. Riku was very quiet the entire time.

"Sora... you look terrible," had been the first, weak words out of her mouth. She smiled faintly, and Sora's heart leapt. He immediately called for the others, and they were there in an instant, Asher straggling because he had been in town gathering information.

"Lilka, we didn't think you were going to make it," said Riku, a smile finally gracing his lips. The girl turned to him and beamed as well as she could manage.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to, either. I thought you had all died, for a minute, until..."

"Until what?" asked Sora, highly attentive.

"Well, not until. I never really believed that any of you were dead. I just knew, in my heart, that everyone was okay. Except for Dyne. When I passed out, I thought I was seeing things through your eyes. All of you guys' eyes."

"That's because we're all in each other's hearts!" beamed Sora, not bothering to hide the elation he felt.

"It was probably so... conspicuous, I guess, because we're so close to our destination," thought Asher aloud. "By the Light, everything is connected, so I guess the closer we get to it, the closer our connection becomes. I bet, if I wanted to, I could reach anybody not consumed by Darkness."

"You really think so! You mean, I might be able to reach Kairi!" exclaimed Sora, instantly in Asher's face. "Tell me how!"

Asher shook his head.

"No no, not like that. More like... everybody knows we're okay. They know we haven't failed yet, that we took a lickin' but we're still tickin'."

"Speaking of which, how the hell did you get out of the Fortress before we did, Asher?" asked Dyne, finally, and with not a little accusation in his voice.

"I've spent all my life fighting against myself. You'd think I'd be good at it by now. Really, Dyne, you could have figured that one out for yourself," responded the black haired boy with an airy tone, intended to frustrate the blonde-haired boy. It worked. The dual wielder left the room.

"You should stay here in bed, Lilka. I've been gathering what we'll need while you guys have been recuperating. I found out what we're in for next."

"Asher, you said we were in Elysium. What is Elysium, anyway?" asked Sora while Lilka began to sink further into the comfortable bed she had been provided. Riku still seemed to be watching the Crest Sorceress.

"It's the only place left in Memoria that's like Memoria before the Darkness came. Most of Memoria was consumed by oblivion, forgotten and left behind, made hollow. Those who have forgotten and have been forgotten are in Memoria. The Fortress keeps Elysium safe from the ravages of the Darkness, but you destroyed it, Sora. Elysium won't stay perfect for much longer."

"You mean... I destroyed Elysium's only defense!"

"Yeah, but the people aren't scared or angry. Everybody's so... placid here. It's like they've been waiting for you to come all this time."

Sora, who was almost fully recovered by this time, shook his head.

"Oh, man..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm more worried about what's ahead of us."

"What's that?"

"The Sea of Faces."

Elysium was, indeed, a perfect world. The sun was always shining up above, nobody ever slept, and the grass was constantly green. The air was always room temperature, nothing ever changed. Nobody in Elysium even remembered the destruction of Memoria. Or, at least, nobody made mention of it.

Asher had become very familiar with the town, and had spent some time in the immense library in the center of Elysium. He had picked up bits and pieces of its past, including mention of a legendary hero, long ago, named Caejan. The name was always surrounded by mention of keyblades, and by the records, Asher found that he was the first Keyblade Master to ever exist.

There were also diagrams and illustrations indicating a massive war between Light and Dark that tore Memoria to shreds, and that the worlds were separated by Caejan. A powerful weapon, called the Genetermina, had polarized into two separate weapons, as had the Light and the Dark. The two halves were named the Genesis and the Termina.

Why the Genesis and Termina were also referred to, several times, as the 'Mother and Father of All Keys', he did not have the time to look into, and much of the writing had not been translated so that he could read it.

The black-haired boy decided not to tell Sora and the others about this information immediately, not really having seen a reason to. They were still injured, and had a lot on their plates. He had, however, discovered something much mroe relevant: that they were very close, indeed, to their destination.

As the Heart Key wielder would later tell them, their goal was just beyond the Sea of Faces.
In the middle of the Sea, directly out from the dock of Elysium, was an immense dome. Inside this dome, the books told him, three beings called 'Moirae' rested and held vigil over the Light, the true Light, the source and storage of all memories past, present, and future.

Having related all of this to the others, it was no longer a matter of not knowing but a matter of will. Sora had the drive, of course; this was his destiny, or so he strongly believed. The others would follow him to the end of all worlds if need be, so that was no longer an issue, either.

Therefore, it was only a matter of time.